dailygamecock.com UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
VOL. 114, NO. 33 • SINCE 1908
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2014
Baseball stadium gets OK from council Project in Bull Street development passes with 4-3 vote after hours of debate Hannah Jeffrey
NEWS@DAILYGAMECOCK.COM
If Columbia builds it, they will come. At least, that’s what Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin is hoping, as the city is on track to get a minor league baseball stadium at the planned Bull Street development. After four hours of debate and discussion, City Council passed a plan Tuesday night to fund the construction of a baseball stadium and multi-use entertainment venue on the Bull Street development. It was the first of two votes to approve the plans. The proposal passed with a 4-3 vote, with council members Moe Baddourah, Leona Plaugh and Tameika
Fortune 100 company could move on campus University asks state for permission to negotiate with business Thad Moore
NEWS@DAILYGAMECOCK.COM
A For t u ne 10 0 compa ny is eyeing a move into a n of f ice building that a private contractor has planned for USC’s campus. USC officials wouldn’t discuss the project, but the universit y w ill ask t he st ate Budget a nd Cont rol Board today for permission to negotiate with the company directly and to enter i nto a cont ract later w it hout further board approval. In its request, USC said the company would bring a “new business venture” to Columbia and do research and development work in the new building, which w ill be built at t he corner of Assembly and Blossom streets. Citing an anonymous source, The State reported that the IBM and construction company Fluor, both Fortune 500 companies, are interested in the space. The company will also provide USC with undisclosed services. The contract for those services would have to be approved by the state Department of Commerce and USC. USC said in the request that bringing the company to campus “would bring significant business to, and create new jobs in, South Carolina.” The of f ice building will be built by Atlanta-based Holder Properties, which will also build an apartment complex on t wo park i ng lot s by t he Carol i na Coliseum. U S C ’s l e a s e w i t h H o l d e r Properties is also up for approval by the Budget and Control Board BUSINESS • 3
Isaac Devine voting against it. In order to fund the $38 million project, the city will commit $29 million in hospitality bonds, sports investment company Hardball Capital will contribute $6 million and Hughes Development will contribute the remaining $3 million. Under the 30-year contract, Atlanta-based Hardball Capital would pay up to $516,000 per year toward the project until private investment in the development reaches $60 million. Once the stadium has been built, Columbia could potentially bring in around $692,400 in annual taxes and fees. The city would initially be allowed to hold up to 20 events in the stadium per year, but that number is up for negotiation. The Bull Street development is to be executed in four phases, with costs coming to a total of approximately $137 million. Over the course of five years, costs
Pups cheer students up
Kamila Melko / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
A Palmetto Animal Assisted Life Services Labrador cheers up a student in the Thomson Student Health Center lobby Tuesday.
Student Health Services holds stress relief event Hannah Jeffrey
NEWS@DAILYGAMECOCK.COM
Let’s be honest: Midterms aren’t fun. Yo u m a d e t h e f l a s h c a r d s , studied the outlines and wrote the term papers, but wit h just days left before spring break, you’re
Program looks to rebrand, improve image with title Thad Moore
Courtesy of USC
probably feeling a little burnt out. To t r y t o e a s e s ome of t he pre-break pressure, the Student Health Services trotted out four f urr y friends, who got st udents out of their books, if only for a few minutes. E m o r y, a s e v e n - m o nt h - o l d Burmese mou ntain dog, joined Fred, Warrior and Gilbert, three Labrador brothers, in the Thomson Health Center lobby Tuesday as
part of the health center’s Keep Calm series, an initiative that aims to relieve students’ stress. “According to [National College Health Assessment] data, stress is the No. 1 impediment for USC students,” said Marieke Pennings, a C a mp u s We l l ne s s g r ad u at e assistant. I n t he pa st , st udent s have frolicked with the dogs on Davis PUPS • 2
Art department plans new name NEWS@DAILYGAMECOCK.COM
Holder Properties will build an office building on Assembly Street.
related to the stadium, including for its constriction and parking, are expected to be $86.1 million. “We are trying to fix any cost to the city at the very beginning,” Benjamin said. Under the contract with Hardball, if more than 275,000 people go to the stadium in one year, the city will make $1 off of each ticket sold. Community members expressed both concerns about and support for the project at the meeting, and the public spoke for more than an hour. John Durst, former director of the Hospitality Association of South Carolina, urged the council to delay a vote on the proposal, saying the plan was still a work in progress when it was presented Tuesday night, and that made him uncomfortable. “Please don’t make a rushed decision,” he said. “Please don’t vote on this matter tonight.” BASEBALL • 3
USC’s art department is planning to go by a new name — the School of Visual Art and Design — that it hopes will better capture what it offers and improve its cachet. Depar t ment Cha ir Peter Chametzky said the school distinction is a “more accurate label,” because it has four main programs — art history, art education, art studio and media arts. Similar programs across the country call themselves schools, he said. Universit y trustees will have to approve t he name change, which c o u ld h ap p e n t h i s s e m e s t e r. I f approved, the art department would become only the second school in the College of Arts and Sciences, along
with the School of the Earth, Ocean and Environment. But t he name cha nge wou ld n’t affect the department’s structure or funding, Chametzky said. Instead, it’s more of an effort to rebrand. The name w ill elevate t he department’s compet it ive graphic design program and its media arts program, which it sees as areas of potential growth that prospective students might miss when they see a name like “Department of Art.” “ T he y t h i n k of p a i nt i n g a nd s c u lpt u re a nd p r i nt m a k i n g a nd drawing and sculpture and ceramics, which we have, but that’s just one area within the department,” Chametzky said. “When somebody’s looking for a place, maybe they just move on.” The effort to elevate media arts and design comes as enrollment in the department has fallen. In Fall 2013, there were 526 full-time students in the department, a 16 percent drop
over five years, which Chametzky said matches nationwide trends. Each of t he depa r t ment’s fou r main majors saw decreases, according to universit y data. A rt history fell 36 percent, and art education and art studio, which includes graphic design, each fell 22 percent. Media arts enrollment fell by 13 percent. Cha met zk y sa id he t h i n k s t he name change will also improve the reputation of USC’s art programs overall. When Chametzky fi rst got a letter saying he was a candidate to be the department’s chair, he said, he tossed it aside. Already the director of the School of Art and Design at Southern Illinois University, being the chair of an art depart ment didn’t seem appealing right away. “It sou nds l ike a more l im ited position than what I have now,” he said he thought at the time. ART • 3